Reclaiming Life
by Bubberloozer
Summary: Kevin finds comfort and happiness. KevinBeth
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to me. Just wanna have some fun.

A/N: I never meant for this to be longer than one chapter- and the two parts don't really need to be one story- but it just happened, and I'm not gonna change it. Just enjoy!!

I've only watched a few episodes so far, so if the characters are not drawn right, I'm sorry. I also don't know the storyline, so let's just say this takes place a few weeks after Kevin got a new job.

This is about Kevin and him finding some happiness and comfort.

**Reclaiming Life**

"Morning!" Joan ran down the stairs and grabbed an apple. "Where's Kevin? I could use a ride since you have to be at school an hour later."

Helen looked up from where she was reading the newspaper. "No idea. I thought he was getting ready." She ignored the last statement of her teenaged daughter.

"Nope, he wasn't in the bathroom."

"He has to be at work in twenty minutes." Helen stood up and hurried up the stairs. The door of the room of her eldest son was still closed. She knocked twice. When there was no answer she opened it. "Kevin?" Frowning, she entered. He was still in his bed.

"Kevin! You need to get up, you're gonna be late for work!" She had reached the bed. "Come o... Kevin?"

"Mmmphh." He rolled his head towards the sound of her voice, prying his eyes open, but groaning at the light.

"You're sick!" Helen stated, one hand coming to rest on his forehead. "You're burning up!"

Kevin just coughed in answer, his features twisting in discomfort.

"I'll be right back."

Helen rushed down the stairs. "Kevin's sick. You'll have to take the bus."

Joan groaned. "What's up with him?"

"I don't know." Helen hastily grabbed a glass and filled it with water. "Can you please make tea?" She then reached for Tylenol and all kinds of medication she kept in stock and thought might be useful. Then she rushed back upstairs.

"Kevin? Swallow these, come on." She supported her son's head as she guided the pills into his mouth, then offering him the drink. Suddenly it felt like a deja-vu. For weeks she had helped her son perform those everyday-tasks. She knew that he was past that, that this was a completely different matter. But it still brought back the bad memories.

"I'm gonna call eh hospital."

"Mom," Kevin spoke for the first time, his voice raspy. "It's just a cold. I'm not going to hospital."

"But what if..."

"No, no what ifs. Everybody has one of those once in a while. I'm gonna be fine." Another coughing fit didn't exactly help to proof his point.

But Helen nodded. "Okay, you're right."

"Hey, tea's ready!" Joan stood in the doorway, a cup with steaming tea carefully between her hands.

"Thanks, honey. Could you stay with Kevin while I call school?"

Joan stepped closer. "Why do you have to call school?"

"To tell them I can't come to work today."

"Mom, you don't have to..."

"Kevin, I agreed on the hospital issue, but I'm not gonna leave you alone like this." With that she was gone, leaving no room for an argument.

Joan's eyes fell on her older brother. "You look like shit."

"Gee, thanks."

"Welcome." She offered the cup. "Want some?"

"No, thanks. I don't feel like sitting up."

"I could help..."

"It's okay." He smiled at her groggily. "Damn."

"Look at the bright side. Today is Friday, so you won't miss too much work."

"That's helpful, Joan."

Joan frowned at his dilated pupils and the sweaty forehead. "Seriously, you don't look too good."

"We covered that already. I'm just gonna need to sleep it off."

"Well, then. Min dif I leave you alone? My bus..."

"Just go. And thanks, for the tea."

"Bye. Get better."

She slipped out of the room and rushed back downstairs. Her mom was on the phone, just saying her good byes.

"School's gonna open without you?"

"I guess. But that was Dr Buckhannon. He told me to be careful with the fever."

"Why is it such a big deal when Kevin's sick? I had a cold the other week- and you even made me go to school!"

"Joan!" Helen sighed. "First of all, Kevin's really sick; second of all, he's never been sick since...and we don't know how his body is gonna react. Dr Buckhannon just said that he is gonna have a harder time getting the fever down. His body can't regulate its temperature like it used to."

Joan took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, that was childish."

"Glad you see it that way. Have fun at school!" Helen kissed her daughter and then headed back upstairs. She understood that Joan and Luke were jealous. After all, Kevin was the oldest and supposed to lead his own life by now. It would have been their turn in a fair world. But what was fair about a world where the life of a twenty-year-old guy was destroyed in one second?

Helen returned to Kevin's room and watched her son for a moment from the doorway.

"Kevin, honey, you need to use the bathroom."

He just groaned in answer.

"I mean, I did this before...if you don't feel like getting up," she offered hesitantly.

"Mom, I'm not gonna have you...forget it." He took a deep breath and shakily grabbed the trapeze to heave himself up. Helen supported his back and efficiently helped him slide into the wheelchair. When he had placed his feet on the footrest, he breathed hard, his hair damp with sweat, his face white like a sheet apart from two red spots on his cheeks. "Be right back," he mumbled.

"Just...don't lock the door!" Helen finished the sentence, acknowledging her son's need for privacy. Of course she had helped him after the accident, but back then he hadn't really had a choice, now that he had, he of course wouldn't want her to be there and treat him like a helpless invalid. He just had a cold, she reminded herself. This was completely different to back then.

Sitting on her son's bed she waited for him to return. "Do you wanna come downstairs, la yon the couch?"

"Nah, I'm fine up here." He coughed and took a few laboured breaths before he was ready to transfer back.

"Hey, sports. How do you feel? Mom said you were sick."

"I guess I'm better. Just really hot and groggy." Kevin tried to smile at his Dad.

"Good. You need anything?"

"Nope."

"Okay, then just get some more sleep. Night."

Will returned downstairs to where his wife was preparing dinner. "He's sleeping again," he announced, starting to set the table. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Helen looked up. "It's just...it's been so much like back then. He...he was so vulnerable, Will." She sat down, wiping her hands on the towel that lay across the back of the chair next to her. "And this morning Joan complained about how I worried so much about him – but not about her or Luke. And she's right. I treat him like a little kid. He's 20!"

"He is 20, alright. But he also had that accident, Helen. Of course, he needs our help more than he, we or his siblings would like to admit. This is new to all of us, and we'll all learn, and he'll become more independent again. It just takes time."

TBC

OK, this chapter doesn't have much to do with what will come next. Hope you liked it!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: see chapter 1

A/N: Sorry it took me so long, but real life is interfering. I have the story written though, it just needs to be typed. So I promise I�m gonna finish it!!!

Have fun!

Chapter 2

Kevin had spent most of the following week in bed. When his fever hadn�t broken, Helen had insisted on calling a doctor and had Kevin take antibiotics. By Friday morning his temperature was finally almost back to normal and apart from a headache he felt better. He had spent a sunny morning sleeping on the porch and was now back upstairs, watching TV.

Helen was cleaning the kitchen when the doorbell rang. Wiping her hands off at the kitchen towel she made her way over to the front door.

�Hello.� She stared at the three guests in surprise. �Matt? Tom? Beth? What are you doing here?� She had immediately recognized Kevin�s old friends.

�Hi, Mrs Girardi.� Beth smiled insecurely. �How are you?�

�Fine, thank you. Come on in.� She stepped aside to let the three young people enter, still shocked. Ever since the accident, apart from few visits to the hospital they had hardly heard from Kevin�s friends. He had refused to answer calls and people had felt uncomfortable around him.

�Thanks.� Matt, a tall guy with cereal blue eyes, ark-blond spiky hair, and wire-framed glasses reacted first. Kevin used t play baseball with him, Helen remembered. Tom had also been on the team, albeit he had never been as good as his two best friends. But he had grown significantly and was now topping Matt by a few inches. His brown curly hair stubbornly refused to stay out of his equally brown eyes. And then there was Beth, Kevin�s high school sweetheart.

�Actually, we�re here to see Kevin.� Tom looked around, taking in the lift at the staircase. �Matt and I, we�ll have a game tomorrow, just an hour from here, and we wondered if Kevin would like to�to come with us��

Helen smiled at the three nervous kids. �He�s gonna be really happy about you showing up. I just don�t know if he�s up to�� She saw the shock in the three pairs of eyes. �He�s had the flu,� she elaborated quickly. �This is actually the first day he�s feeling better. And I...� She remembered a conversation between her and her husband. Kevin was an adult, not a baby. He would have to make that decision himself. �I think you should just ask him. He�s upstairs. Come on.�

She preceded the three up the stairs and knocked on kevin�s door. �You got visitors!� She stuck her head in, watching hers on dozing beneath his bedding but immediately blinking.

�What?�

�Friends of yours.�

She waited until he had reached for the trapeze and sat himself up before she pushed the door open the rest of the way. �Come on in.�

Kevin watched in disbelief as three of his best friends nervously entered the room. �Hi, Kev.� Tom was the first to step closer, offering a handshake.

�Hey,� Kevin smiled insecurely, feeling a little self-conscious and definitely shocked by the unexpected appearance.

Matt was next and when the two guys stepped aside a beautiful, petite blonde sweetly smiled at him. �Hello, Kevin.� She bent down to embrace him, and for a moment Kevin forgot everything around him. He took in her scent and the softness of her hair against his cheek. God, he had missed her! They had broken up after the accident. It�s been the one and only mature decision. He didn�t have room for her, and Anne hadn�t signed up for any of this. But now, that he saw her, he realized how much he had really missed her.

Beth straightened and looked at him shyly. �How are you?�

�I�m fine. I just look like a monster because of this damn cold.�

An awkward silence spread in the room.

Again it was Tom who took the first step and spoke. �Listen, uhm, we, Matt and I, we have a game tomorrow. We wondered if you would like to come. It�s only like eighty miles from here and we would be back tomorrow night, and�I mean, if you don�t wanna, we understand, but, you know,�� He helplessly looked at the other guy and then back at Kevin, propped up on his elbows.

�I really appreciate you guys stopping by and maybe I�d�but I still feel a little groggy and beat and I don�t wanna�I mean you guys sure wanna party tonight, and I don�t wanna��

Matt vigorously interrupted Kevin. �Cut it out, Kev. We�re your friends, we should�ve come a lot earlier, and we didn�t. But now�please, for old time�s sake.�

Kevin shook his head. �You won�t get back old times. It�s all changed- for me. I�m not sure you�ve realized that yet, but I can�t even get out of this damn bed without trouble.�

�Kevin, please, give us a chance,� Beth whispered.

Kevin looked up, seeing the sincerity in the eyes of all his friends. �Of course, I�d love to come. It�s just� not that easy.�

�It�s gonna be fine. We booked a hotel room, it�s accessible, we checked. And when Tom and I play, Beth�s still there.�

�I�m not sure if I�m still contagious though.� Kevin coughed as if to emphasize his point.

�We�ll live.� Tim grinned. �Great.�

Kevin sat up further, pulling his legs over the edge of the bed in the wake. He felt all eyes onhim as he transferred to his wheelchair. He was grateful enough strength had returned to his arms. When he was seated in his chair he looked up. �I�ll have to pack some stuff. You can wait downstairs and have my mom make you some sandwiches.�

Helen put a plate on the table when the three entered the kitchen. �You�ve had along ride.� She waved at the sandwiches. �Help yourself.�

�Thanks, Mrs Girardi.�

�What did he say?�

�He�s gonna come. Hope that�s okay.� Tom answered before taking a big bite.

Helen shrugged. �Not like my opinion counts anyway. But I really think it�s a good idea. It�s just, he�s still a little weak on his f�� She stopped the sentence abruptly. �It�s gonna be the first game for him, since, you know. I�m a little worried about how he�s gonna deal.�

�I�m gonna stay with him. No need to worry.� Beth smiled.

�You guys ready?� Kevin wheeled into the kitchen, a bag on his lap and his jacket thrown across it. �My Mom gave you all the instructions on how to baby-sit me?�

�She just asked us to have you in bed by eight.� Tom teased.

�Okay, let�s move. We have training at six!�

Helen watched her eldest son making his way to the black minivan Matt was driving from where she was leaning against the frame of the front door and smiled happily.

This was right where he should be, off to a game with his friends. A wave of sadness washed over her. No matter how right it felt it was never gonna happen for him. She sighed. There was no use in looking back. She just hoped he was going to have fun. What would it do to him, watching his friends play, knowing that was exactly where he was supposed to be? Maybe, hopefully, it would help him find closure.

TBC 


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry it took me so long. I should rather be studying right now, but I felt like I need to try and continue or rather finish this story. Hope you enjoy it!!

I've never actually seen an episode with Beth in it, I haven't really seen that many episodes at all (Europe's far behind in terms of broadcasting the show!). So I apologize if I'M not completely into characters- especially with Beth.

Chapter 3

"Hope it's okay if we head right to the ballpark first. Otherwise we'd be late for the final training session."

"No problem." Kevin forced a smile on his face, but swallowed inwardly. He had never been to a game since…well, since he couldn't play anymore, and he wasn't sure what it would be like, if he was ready and prepared for the feelings that this would stir up. He had avoided even thinking about it for so long.

xxx

Tom and Matt kept checking their watches on the last few miles nervously and when they finally reached the parking lot they both jumped out of the car, grabbing their bags and sprinting over to the field where some guys had already stared to warm up.

Beth waited with the keys in hand for Kevin to transfer. He was relieved that his friends didn't dance around him like he was a china doll. It felt good to be around them, to have people outside his family whom he could trust. He hadn't really realized how lonely he had been those last few months. He had hardly left the house, there was no place for him to go to and meet new people. It would not have been as easy as it used to be, he no longer was the sports star everybody wanted to be seen with. And he had realized that he was no ready to be somebody else.

"Ready?"

"Sure." He smiled up at Beth, trying to seem sure of himself.

Beth watched him carefully. "You sure you wanna go there?"

Kevin stopped in his tracks, watching his hands as they rested on the rims of his wheels. "It's been more than a year," he said as a way of explanation.

"It's not a matter of time, Kevin," Beth offered. She stepped aside when a bus wanted to pass by. It was full of guys, apparently one of the other teams arriving.

Kevin's eyes followed the bus before he spoke quietly. "This is right where I should be, this is what everybody, including myself expected."

Beth looked straight at him, leaning against the side of the car. She kept silent, waiting for him to continue.

"But its not gonna happen. I'm not gonna be that guy – ever. So I can just as well go, watch and try and accept. It's just," he swallowed, fighting back the lump that formed in his throat. "I never got the chance to prove that I could do it." He shook his head, squinting against the sun when he looked up at the beautiful girl. "God, I'm sorry. I shouldn't bother you with all of that."

"Kevin, you don't bother me. I wanna help you."

"You don't have to, I'm fine. I think it's great you visited me and took me here, but what else is going on in my life; you don't have to deal with that."

Beth stared at him for a long moment, Kevin thought he could see sadness and regret in her eyes; but also hurt. Finally she spoke with a gentle voice, her eyes now distant. "Right after you had the accident, I came by at the hospital every day." She bit her lips, desperately trying to find the right words. "It was hard, Kev. I mean, I had just finished high school, I was about to go to college, I dated one of the cutest guys. And all of a sudden, everything's changed. You'd changed."

Kevin raised his eyebrows, his fingers gripping his wheels tighter. "Yeah, I couldn't walk any…"

"That's not what I meant. It doesn't matter to me if you're walking or not. Do you really think I'm that shallow? I loved you. But you've changed. You were bitter, sarcastic, depressed, despondent, angry. I'm not saying you didn't have every right to be all those things."

"Beth, please. I'm not mad at you for leaving me. We made that decision."

She snorted. "Right. You remember that day when we talked and agreed on breaking up? Because you had other things to deal with, and I…I hadn't signed up for that. That all we had had was a high school romance?" Beth choked.

"Of course, I remember."

"Kevin, I…"

"Beth! Kevin! Come on!" Tom and Matt ran towards them, wearing their training gear, unaware of the emotions that had built up around the two people.

Kevin quickly looked back at Beth, seeing the regret in her eyes for a split second. Then she smiled. "Enough sentimentality. Let's see if those guys know how to play ball."

xxx

TBC

I know it's pretty short. But I swear I'll finish this story!!!! Just hang in there and let me know what you think!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! 


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